


Reach for the Stars (Just Try)

by wingeddserpent



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Canon Related, Character Study, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-07-11
Updated: 2011-07-11
Packaged: 2017-10-21 07:04:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 425
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/222265
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wingeddserpent/pseuds/wingeddserpent
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kairi wishes, but waiting's never been her strong suit.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Reach for the Stars (Just Try)

**Author's Note:**

> For the prompt: Kairi: character study - The waiting is the hardest part

That nagging feeling, like she’s forgotten something, is going to drive her insane. She rolls over, rolls again, and winds up looking at the ceiling. Riku—she remembers clear as day. Silver hair, green eyes, tall. Oh, she remembers him, running around with a stick, always having to be better than—better than—

Kairi sits up and rubs her eyes, and startles at the still-warm tears.

With ease, she heads to the window and then jumps down, landing neatly. She can’t remember who taught her how to fall (except for that smile, oh that _smile_ ), but she sends them ( _him_ ) a silent thank you.

The beach is chilly at this time of night, but she can see the stars, all of them, she thinks with a giggle, and wonders if, maybe, Riku ever made it to that other world he dreamed of. She wonders if maybe that boy she can’t remember ( _he smiled_ ) is with him too.

Somehow, she knows he’ll (they’ll) come back for her, and she wonders if that can be enough. Wonders if she can be content with waiting.

(Well, can she really do anything but wait, anyway?)

Kairi stretches out on the sand, looking up at the stars again, and wonders if she can see the world they’re on. She wonders if they can see home from where they’re at.

Maybe they’ve forgotten her, like she’s forgotten that boy ( _brown hair that never quite laid flat_ ). She lifts a handful of sand and watches it slip between her fingers, like her memory, like the past, and she looks up at the stars and wants to believe.

(But she’s not Selphie, believing isn’t as easy as breathing, believing is something intangible, unfathomable, and she remembers that Riku was that way too, the only thing he believed in was herself and... And... _Blue eyes and that smile_ ).

Above, the stars continue to glimmer, and she thinks that there are so many—how will they ever find their way home? How will they ever find her?

Will she be stuck waiting here forever?

(But there was a promise, wasn’t there? A promise on this very beach? But how can it be honored if she’s forgotten?)

Kairi takes a breath that shakes with tears, and she wishes, atop all her other wishes, that she could just sleep. Just let go and sleep. But she can’t, because something’s missing and she can’t quite remember what and that nagging feeling that she’s forgotten something will be the end of her.

( _Please, please come home. Come find me._ )


End file.
